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Czech professional hockey player David Krejci and the Boston Bruins have signed a six-year contract extension worth $43.5 million. The deal was confirmed on Twitter by TSN analyst Aaron Ward on Wednesday (with the original report of the contract extension coming from a news outlet in Krejci's home country).

At the end of the season Krejci, the Boston team's 28 year old top-line center, would have become a free agent. The new deal makes him the top paid member of the Bruins, taking over goalkeeper Tuukka Rask, defender Zdeno Chara and his fellow center, Patrice Bergeron, the former top three paid team members.

The deal, along with several similar ones closed in the last season, has secured the top players of the team until the 2020-2021 season. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli has revealed that not signing Jarome Iginla at the start of his free agency was a strategy to reserve funds for players such as Krejci, so that they will remain with the team. These valuable players could rightfully expect a raise at this point – and they got it.

After gutting out a solid road win against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 16, the Boston Bruins had to travel to Chicago to face the Central Division leading Blackhawks, and then immediately return home for a bout with an equally formidable Kings team. Before the Dallas game the Bruins were in a bit of a rut, but their performance over the end of the weekend should have done much to quell the discontent.

Boston picked up three points out of a possible four (they lost in a shootout to the Hawks), and did plenty to show that they are capable of hanging with two of the best teams in the NHL. The play of both goaltenders, the explosive resurgence of Brad Marchand, and the ever improving injury situationt were at the forefront of this stretch of play. Most importantly, despite the injuries, the team seems to have found a level of consistency that they should begin to build on for the rest of the season.

Losers of three of their last the four, the Boston Bruins were in need of a road win against an inferior Dallas Stars' team. The game was scoreless for much of the first two periods, but a combination of timely scoring and solid goaltending allowed Boston to hang on for a solid 3-2 win in in the Lone Star state.

Up until the closing moments of the second period, the Bruins had been unable to solve Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen. That all changed when a rebound from a Milan Lucic shot squirted into the slot and center David Krejci blasted the puck home to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

With a 2-1 lead late in the third, and the Bruins on the powerplay, Lucic raised his stick and redirected a high shot from Torey Krug for a great insurance goal. The score was Lucic's first in his last ten games, and even he admitted he was anxious for it to go up on the scoreboard.

"Goals really haven't come easy for me the last 18, 19 games," Lucic said, "and it was nice to get one there, especially on the power play."

One could make the argument that through the first half of the NHL season there was no better goalie on the planet than Tuukka Rask. 42 games in, the young netminder was in the top 5 in the league in all major statistical categories, and Pittsburgh aside, was anchoring a team that is a very good bet to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals. The question is, has Rask's recent stretch of less than dismal play really a cause for concern?

On the surface, his recent numbers would make you want to say yes. Make no mistake, the Fins' last couple of outings have been tough to watch. Since the New Years eve loss to the Islanders Rask has played in 5 and a third games (he was yanked a minute into the second period vs. the Kings) and let in a disturbing number of goals (18).

If you do the math, that means that his goals against over that span is just over three and a half per game, to say nothing of his paltry .87 save percentage. The most significant statistic here is obviously is the win-loss record, which is 2-4. For a team with some lofty expectations none of the above is going to get this team where it is capable of going.

After Saturday night's 1-0 shutout of a skilled San Jose Sharks team, it seemed as though Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask had finally kicked his recent cold streak. Last night the Boston netminder proved that that wasn't the case after putting forth another sub-par performance. Not everything was on Rask, but surrendering four goals on twenty six shots is not a formula for success.

To make matters worse, Jonathan Bernier continues to prove that he is that he is Toronto's present and future in goal. Boston spent a lot of time in the Leafs' zone, but only managed to convert three goals on 38 shots.

"I thought the atmosphere was awesome. I think both teams played hard, and lots of hitting in that game," Bernier said. "When we get skating and we hit a lot, I think we get a lot of energy from our bench and we play very well."

The outcome was a rare defeat on home ice for the Bruins, and it sure didn't help matters that Phil Kessel was undoubtedly the best player on the ice all night. By the time this one was all said and done, the former Bruin finished with three assists, and was constantly attacking the offensive zone.